W. Tennis is sickly

After cruising through most of the fall season, the women's tennis team hit rocky ground this past weekend at the ITA Team Regional tournament held at Lott Courts and the Levy Pavilion. The Quakers finished sixth out of the eight teams competing in the tournament. Penn defeated Boston College 5-2, but lost to Yale and Brown 5-1 and 5-2 respectively. "We were all flat," sophomore Lara Afanassiev said. "We didn't play as well as we should have." Perhaps things began to go wrong for Penn when its No. 1 player, Preety Sorathia, pulled a groin muscle while playing her match against Brown. She was forced to retire from that match. She came back to compete against Boston College and Yale. Nevertheless, the groin strain prevented her from playing effectively because it significantly reduced her speed. "I didn't have the agility that I usually do," Sorathia said. "It definitely hindered my performance." On the bright side, freshman Yukie Tokuda won two matches in the tournament, leaving her tied with Julia Feldman for the best record on the team at 9-2. Virginia Tech was the champion of the tournament, defeating Brown in the final, 5-3. Yale and Boston College finished fifth and seventh respectively. The Quakers must now turn their attention to the ECAC tournament at Yale this weekend. Penn has added pressure because it is the defending ECAC champion. The ECACs are an individual and team tournament. There are six singles flights and three doubles draws. For each individual win, the team gets a point as well. This will be the first road trip this season in which the team will not be accompanied by coach Cissie Leary, who must remain home due to an illness. "This is the first road trip that [Leary] is not with us," Sorathia said. "It is not the same without her, but she has prepared us to play our best." Despite the painful injury, Sorathia will compete in the tourney. Afanassiev remains upbeat, despite acknowledging the challenge her team now faces. "We have been practicing without our coach and we have had no good practices since the weekend," she said.